After their stunning Champions League victory over Arsenal, Lens will be looking to cap a memorable week with another victory when they return to their home fixture in France with a derby against bitter local rivals Lille. Lens marked their first home match in Europe’s elite club competition in more than two decades with a stunning comeback to beat highly-fancied Arsenal 2-1 in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 38,000 on Tuesday. Almost no Lens players had appeared in the Champions League earlier this season and yet they recovered from an early deficit against one of England’s heavyweights to win with goals from Adrien Thomasson and Elye Wahi.
“It was one of the most memorable games of my time at Lens,” said manager Franck Haise, who had limited coaching experience when he took over the Ligue 2 team just three years ago.
Last season he took them to second place in Ligue 1 behind champions Paris Saint-Germain, and their home form was central to their success, winning 17 and drawing one of 19 at their imposing Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
The passion the team generates among the people of Lens and the surrounding region is virtually unique in France and Haise credited the club’s supporters with playing a central role against Arsenal.
“The fans have helped us push ourselves to the limit and we have done the same for them. When we have such a symbiotic relationship it can make for an unforgettable evening,” he said.
The atmosphere in Lens was not unlike that in Newcastle a day later, when the home side defeated PSG 4-1 on a miserable evening for France’s dominant club.
While PSG had to do more research after a poor result in Europe, Lens have given themselves a great chance to progress past the group stage.
Their match winner against Arsenal was 20-year-old striker Wahi, who signed for a club record 35 million euros ($36.8 million) from Montpellier in August.
Wahi was signed to replace last season’s top scorer Lois Openda, who left for RB Leipzig.
Yet he and Lens both got off to a rocky start, taking one point from their first five league games before a 1-1 draw with Sevilla in their Champions League opener provided the kick-start.
Wahi scored his first Lens goal in last week’s 1-0 win in Strasbourg and followed that up with a goal and an assist against Arsenal.
“He’s making progress with every game and every training session. He’s making great strides,” said Haise, who described Wahi as “top class.”
Wahi, also a target for West Ham United in the summer, can further endear himself to the Lens support by scoring again when Lille make the short trip for the derby.
Player to watch: Kylian MbappéPSG will look to bounce back from their midweek nightmare in Newcastle when they travel to Rennes, and Mbappé will aim to make a bigger impact than he did in that Champions League horror show.
The French superstar had a night to forget in England, as PSG suffered their heaviest European defeat since an infamous 6-1 defeat in Barcelona in March 2017.
Mbappé remains PSG’s top scorer this season with eight goals, but he has not found the net since dropping out against Marseille two weeks ago with an ankle injury.
Key statistics3 – Lens has made it three consecutive wins in all competitions after failing to win any of their opening six games this season
8– Lyon is in a run of eight league games without winning. Since 1992, they have not gone nine top-flight games without winning
4 – PSG’s defeat at Newcastle was the first time they have conceded four goals in a single match since February 2020
Fixtures
Friday
Strasbourg vs Nantes
Saturday
Metz vs Nice (1500), Reims vs Monaco
Sunday
Marseille v Le Havre, Brest v Toulouse, Lyon v Lorient, Montpellier v Clermont, Lens v Lille, Rennes v Paris Saint-Germain
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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